


you're actually really soft like this

by ShortcakeYard



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No War, Alternate Universe - Same Age, Angst with a Happy Ending, Discord: Bellamione Coven Valentine's Event, F/F, Fluff, Hogwarts, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Polyjuice Potion Mishap, Same Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShortcakeYard/pseuds/ShortcakeYard
Summary: When Hermione doesn't show up for their date, Narcissa panics.Prompt 17:  You’ll always be my favourite no matter what you are
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Narcissa Black Malfoy
Comments: 4
Kudos: 99





	you're actually really soft like this

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really know what happened here, lol. I had a cute little scene in my mind and then suddenly this angsty piece came out. I guess the muse wants what it wants _*shrug*_  
>  This was written for the Bellamione Coven Valentine's Event over on [Discord](https://discord.gg/rAKhWJQ), feel free to come take a look, we're a friendly bunch who love all Black sisters :)
> 
> Only read this through once, so please feel free to point out any mistakes I overlooked! c:
> 
> Enjoy!

The moment Narcissa Black rounded the corner, the hallway cleared before her, students of all houses walking as close to the wall as possible. Her reputation as the Slytherin Princess and the icy mask she wore at all times, made that no one wanted to be caught standing in her way. 

It was the same icy façade that prevented everyone from seeing the panic that Narcissa was currently experiencing. Her mind was going a hundred miles a minute, and her stomach hurt so bad that she was surprised that her lunch was still actually inside it. On the outside, though, she had her lips pressed into a thin line, and her nose was stuck into the air. Anyone foolish enough to look at her for too long was given a cold stare and a raised eyebrow, forcing them to look away.

Mother had taught her this look when she still was an impressionable young child, and she had perfected it over the past five years at Hogwarts. _“Let no one know what you’re thinking, so they won’t hold power over you,”_ Mother used to say. _“You are a Black, everyone is beneath you, and they should know it the moment you enter the room. Especially the Mudbloods.”_

Narcissa shuddered to think what would happen if her parents were ever to find out about her relationship with a _‘filthy Mudblood’_ , and a woman no less. She knew first-hand the cruelties her mother was capable of. Now that the blonde couldn’t find Hermione, neither physically nor with her mind, she was frightened for her girlfriend’s life.

They were supposed to meet last night in the Prefects’ bathroom after she got back from Yuletide break at Black Manor, but Hermione never showed. It wasn’t like her to miss a date night without letting the youngest Black sister know that she couldn’t make it, so she waited for her until she risked detention for staying out too late.

Then the little notes that she sent flying through her window up the Gryffindor Tower, folded like daffodils, also went unanswered. That was when Narcissa really started getting worried, the claws of fear for Hermione planting in her stomach. Because if she wasn’t in her dorm room, then where could she be?

When the Gryffindor was absent from their shared Arithmancy class, the panic raging through the Slytherin’s insides peaked. Hermione never, _never_ , missed class, not even when she was running a fever so high that she couldn’t form coherent thoughts or sentences. 

Of course, there had been times when Narcissa hadn’t known where Hermione was, but she had always been able to contact her mentally. So now that she _couldn’t_... She didn’t dare finish that thought.

By Morgana, she wished that they both had one of those mobile communicators that Hermione sometimes mentioned, to have a way of contacting her. Unfortunately, her girlfriend had explained to her early on that Muggle technology went haywire due to the castle’s magic, leaving it useless. So she had seen no other option than to find the Gryffindor’s best friends and hope that they knew where she was.

The youngest Black sister eventually found them near the Gryffindor Common Room on the seventh floor. They were probably returning there after an exhausting day of classes, and luckily they were alone. Just as she was about to call out to them, so they would stop walking, the Potter boy turned around at the sound of her heels and nudged Weasley.

“What are you doing here, Black?”

The hostility in their stances and the venom in the redhead’s voice were expected, but Narcissa felt nothing but anguish at the thought of how hard it would be to convince them to share her girlfriend’s whereabouts. It didn’t exactly help the situation that neither boy had any clue about their relationship out of fear of Narcissa’s family finding out. 

“I was wondering if you know where Miss Granger is, she wasn’t in class.”

“Why would we tell _you_? Want to taunt her some more on how her blood is supposedly worth so much less than yours? You’re vile, Black! Go hex yourself and crawl back to your sister and your _perfect_ family,” Weasley scoffed.

His face was contorted in disgust, but Narcissa picked up on the flicker of concern in his eyes at the mention of his friend. It worried her senseless. What if they also didn’t know where Hermione was? The mention of her family brought back her earlier panic on what they would do if they found out and got their hands on the Muggle-born.

Now that she thought about it, Andy had gotten more distant lately, what if she found out and disapproved? Oh Merlin, what if she told Bella or Mother? If Mother actually found out... _No_. No, she could not go there, not now.

Narcissa tried very hard to maintain her icy façade, but she felt her lip quiver slightly, and there was a tone of desperation to her voice when she addressed the boys again.

“If you know where she is, just tell me, _please_.”

Her sight blurred as tears welled up in her eyes that she desperately tried to keep from rolling down her cheeks. Her breaths seemed to become quicker and shallower the longer Potter and Weasley were quiet, no matter how much she tried to control herself. 

She suddenly felt cut off from the world. Her ears were ringing, and big, hot tears blocked her sight, while visions of her mother and Bella standing over Hermione tormented her. All coherent thought left her mind as she struggled to get air into her lungs. She needed- No, she needed to _know_.

“If- If you don’t know, then- _Please!_ I need to know- If my- If Mother found out-”

She jerked back as a hand squeezed her shoulder seemingly out of nowhere. Her head shot up, and she was suddenly looking into Potter’s green eyes. Narcissa’s mind latched onto the vibrant colour. It reminded her of young grass in spring and soft moss on the trees around the Black Lake. Fond memories of reading books with Hermione at their secret spots around the lake pulled her out of her panic. Slowly but surely her breaths started to even out, and her mind regained its focus on the outside world.

The black-haired boy was standing before her, a mix of concern and understanding etched onto his face. She saw Weasley still standing further along the hallway, looking at her warily, as if he didn’t quite believe that she just genuinely broke down like that in front of Gryffindors. The blonde could hardly believe it herself. 

Not quite sure how to proceed, Narcissa straightened her back to feign some sort of composure, and flashed a small, grateful smile at Potter. “I-”

“She’s in the Hospital Wing,” he interjected, nearly sending her straight back into a panic if it wasn’t for his calm voice. Surely if Hermione’s best friend was this calm about it, she couldn’t be that badly injured, right? But then why couldn’t she contact her? Her Legilimency had never failed her like this before. 

“Hermione had an accident with a potion during Christmas break. It’s nothing too serious, but she can’t make it to class just yet,” Potter assured her. “I’m sure if you ask, Madam Pomfrey will let you talk to her.”

Narcissa took a deep breath and nodded. The feeling of terror simmered down to an uncomfortable queasiness that she knew wouldn’t dissipate until she had actually seen her girlfriend. How she hadn’t thought to check the Hospital Wing, she couldn’t fathom, and she mentally chastised herself for losing track of rational thoughts.

The green-eyed Gryffindor started shuffling his feet awkwardly, and suddenly the blonde realised that she was still standing in a public corridor. She straightened the invisible creases in her robes and felt herself slipping back into her Slytherin Princess persona, drawing strength from the comfort and confidence it gave her.

“Yes, well, thank you. If you _ever_ tell anyone what happened here...” She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t finish the threat and turned around. She would never actually harm Hermione’s best friends, and could not think of anything mean enough to say in her post-panic haze either. As she walked away from the silent Gryffindors, Narcissa cleaned up her face with a flurry of her wand. She would not be caught off-guard by anyone unworthy again today.

The moment she entered the nearly empty Hospital Wing, the blonde looked around, searching for Hermione. In fact, it appeared that the only bed occupied was the one shielded from sight with privacy screens. Before the door had fully closed, Madam Pomfrey, appeared in the doorway leading to the Hospital Wing Matron’s office. She quickly and quietly walked over to Narcissa, still standing by the entrance.

“What can I help you with, Miss Black?”

The youngest Black sister glanced over the matron’s shoulder at the shielded hospital bed at the far left of the room. “I was hoping to see Miss Granger if that is alright?”

“I’m very sorry, Miss Black, but Miss-”

“Cissa?”

Narcissa, who was already retreating in on herself to shield herself from Madam Pomfrey’s disappointing answer, perked up at the sounds of her girlfriend’s voice. “‘Mione?”

Despite Madam Pomfrey protestations, the blonde brushed past her and made her way over to Hermione. She could feel her eyes brimming with tears once more from the relief coursing through her veins when she stopped in her tracks as the rounded the privacy screen.

Hermione’s skin was covered in dark grey fur and all her facial features were replaced by feline ones. Slightly pointed cat ears protruded from her hairline, where her once bushy hair now formed a thick lionesque mane. She looked like a sized up house cat trying to be a lion, and Narcissa couldn’t help the amused smile that played around her lips as she drew a shaky breath through her tears.

“What-” She croaked out and cleared her throat. “What happened?”

Her girlfriend smiled sheepishly and scratched the fur at the back of her neck with her sharp nails. “I may have accidentally consumed Polyjuice Potion made from the hair of a cat? I mean, I thought I took a human hair, but it turned out to be a cat hair. In my defence, it looked very much like a human hair, I swear!”

The blonde chuckled at Hermione’s rambling while she dried her tears. Part of her wanted to be mad at how much she had made her worry, but ever since they had started to get to know each other, she had never really been able to be angry with her. The sad cat eyes that she now sported made it all the more impossible.

“May I join you, my little lion?” Narcissa inclined her head towards the bed with a smirk.

The brunette crossed her arms in feigned indignation. “Little?! I’ll have you know that I’m two inches taller than you, Miss _‘smarty-pants’_ Black!”

“Hmm, is that the best you could come up with? I’d say that compared to a real lion you’re rather on the small side, _my little lion_.”

Hermione huffed but couldn’t hide her smile and eventually nodded her consent while patting on the bed. The blonde witch slipped off her heels and lay down, snuggling into the side of her Gryffindor, her arm curled around her waist and her head resting on her shoulder. 

For a moment she stared at the ceiling, letting the heaviness of the day sink in.

“I was really worried about you, you know? Scared even. When you didn’t show up last night, and then also not for class, I didn’t know what to think. Thought perhaps Andy might’ve found out and told Mother, that she had gotten to you. I was terrified, and I had no way of contacting you, I couldn’t feel your mind like I normally do. I still don’t, to be honest.” She looked up at her girlfriend’s cat-like eyes with fresh tears in hers. The arms around her body tightened in consolation.

“I now think that might be because you’re partly a cat, but it scared me to death today. I completely broke down in front of your friends, so I think they suspect something is going on between us. Though that might actually be a good thing, maybe. I don’t ever want to worry about you like this again.”

Hermione pressed a soft kiss on her hair, her whiskers tickling the sensitive skin of her forehead. “I’m really sorry I had you scared like that, Cissa, I hope I will never worry you again. Maybe next time we’re in the library we can research methods to exchange messages regardless of our location and state of mind?”

“That sounds fun, ‘Mione, I can’t wait.” Narcissa smiled at the idea of a new research project and nodded. “But why didn’t you try to get a message through to me yesterday? You knew where I would be, and if I’d known I would have been here for you. Cuddling on a bed with you is as good a date as any, wherever we are.”

Hermione was quiet for a moment before she let out a small breath. “I, uhh... I was afraid that you wouldn’t like me like this.”

The blonde pushed herself up on an elbow to look into her girlfriend’s eyes and cupped her cheek. “Hermione, you’ll always be my favourite, you know that, right? No matter what you are, my little lion.”

She gently scratched the underside of Hermione’s jaw, the same spot she’d normally scratch on Crookshanks. A relaxed purring sound came from her chest, making Narcissa chuckle. She lay back down into their embrace and put her head on her girlfriend’s chest, the sound of her purrs reverberating through her ear.

‘How long does Madam Pomfrey think it will take before you’re back to human?”

“She doesn’t exactly know. As Polyjuice Potion is not meant for animal transformations it’s a little tricky, but she thinks that within a week my face will probably lose its fur. Could be a few more before I’m completely myself again.”

“Then I will be here as much as I can, ‘Mione.”

The brunette tightened her embrace in response. “I would love that, Cissy.”

During the following lull in the conversation, Narcissa could feel herself slipping into the world of dreams quickly, exhausted from her stressful day. She pressed her face into Hermione’s neck and mumbled some barely coherent words before she fell asleep.

“You know, you’re actually really soft like this, my little lion, you’ve got nice fur.”

“Hmm, I love you too, Cissa.”

**Author's Note:**

> Someone please teach me how to write real angst lol xD  
> Also, don't ask me why Hermione made Polyjuice Potion in the first place, I don't know either, _eh_. For science or something like that :')


End file.
